NOVEMBER - JANUARYBUSINESSMANAGEMENTREVIEW.COM8THE HUMAN TOLL OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENTBy Melissa Old, Head of People and Capability Business Partnering, Bega Group Over the last few decades, it is fair to say that anyone in the workforce would have experienced an organizational transformation or led their own teams through change. In times of turmoil and economic uncertainty, organizations are often forced to change course rapidly. How organizational leaders navigate and steer their teams through this turmoil ultimately determines the success of the change and its impact on people. The ambiguity and uncertainty that accompanies a transformation journey can be a minefield for leaders, creating unnecessary noise and angst. As an HR professional, you become accustomed to being part of the engine room, working alongside leaders, designing and re-designing organizational structures, costing, meticulously planning, debating and executing wave after wave of organizational change, perhaps coming through the other side battle-weary and hardened. Leading an organizational transformation can be challenging, painfully slow and requires expertise in change management. While there are many change methodologies available to guide your approach, PROSCI or ADKAR, Kotter's model to name a few, all of these involve careful planning, stakeholder mapping and consultation as well as execution excellence. What cannot be emphasized enough, though, is the need for proactive communication, leader engagement at all levels of the organization and deep empathy for the people in the organization. Unfortunately, these fundamentals can get missed, and this is why organizational transformations go pear-shaped.LACK OF COMMUNICATIONThere is nothing more damaging to engagement levels than poor communication. Humans are story-telling creatures by nature. In the absence of information, people speculate, gossip and make up their own stories about what is going on, usually jumping to the worst-case scenario. Hence, it is important to have regular, proactive communication from which all leaders in the organization are consistently messaging. Where possible, communication should be done in person, authentically and frequently. All employee meetings or town halls are a good vehicle to update everyone together. Even if there is no new information to share on the change, you can still hold space for questions, listen to the sentiment in the room and respond with empathy and understanding. LACK OF ENGAGEMENT WITH LEADERS Organizational re-design usually starts with the executive leadership team. However, where organizations can fail is by not engaging early with their mid-level and frontline leaders. I have seen situations where leaders have been expected to execute changes with their teams at short notice, sometimes within hours. This does not allow the time necessary for leaders to process the context around the change, grasp what is changing and why, or anticipate the likely emotional reactions that will erupt from their team members. Leaders at all levels of the organization must be brought on board with the planned change as early as possible and given sufficient time for them to process their personal impact, ask questions and receive answers. SUPPORTING PEOPLE TO PROCESS CHANGE AT THEIR OWN PACE AND VALIDATING THEIR EXPERIENCE OF LOSS IS NECESSARY TO ENABLE THEM TO MOVE FORWARD
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